Many homeowners rely on short-term rental pricing tools to keep their property competitive in the market and help them earn more. Rather than determining nightly rates manually or using fixed prices, dynamic pricing tools for Airbnb, Vrbo & other platforms automate your pricing strategy to maximise profits and minimise vacancy. 

In this article, we’ll explore the following pricing tools for your short-term rental to help you decide which one is the right fit for your Airbnb pricing strategy: Airbnb’s Smart Pricing, third-party pricing tools like PriceLabs, and tailored strategies from an Airbnb manager.

What are my options for short-term rental pricing tools?

Airbnb Smart Pricing or Vrbo Rate Automation

Smart Pricing on Airbnb and Vrbo's Rate Automation are two pricing tools built into each platform. Both of these are free tools that all homeowners can use; once you enable them, they automatically update your rates based on their own individual pricing algorithm.

While both offer good starting points for new short-term rental homeowners, as it can give them an idea on how similar properties in their location are being priced at no extra cost.

However, it’s important to note the limitations of Airbnb’s Smart Pricing:

• Guest-centric pricing: Prices can lean on the lower end of your preferred range, as it prioritises quicker bookings over maximising revenue
• Single-channel automation: If your listing is available on other STR hosting platforms such as Vrbo or Booking.com, you’ll need to manually sync prices for those listings.
• Missed pricing opportunities: Property-level amenities (think accommodations with harbour views in Sydney or similar) may not be considered, which could result to revenue loss
• No support for customised rules: Smart Pricing must be disabled to enable any custom pricing, such as weekend stays or peak booking dates. If you offer any discounts, Smart Pricing there is also a risk of nightly rates dipping below the minimum price that you’ve set.

Third-party Airbnb pricing tools

Third-party pricing tools such as PriceLabs are ideal for tech-savvy hosts who want to be more involved with pricing their short-term rental listing. These paid tools offer more features compared to Airbnb’s Smart Pricing, such as:

• Customised rule sets,
• cross-platform integrations to sync prices between Airbnb, Vrbo, and other websites,
• optional, paid upgrades like analytics tools, market dashboards for real-time performance tracking, and more.

However, while third-party pricing tools are a step up from Airbnb’s Smart Pricing or Vrbo's Rate Automation, note that they are a single-purpose tool and cannot handle anything outside of pricing. Many hosts who want to scale their operations eventually have to get other third party tools for:

• Short-term rental channel management,
• access to external Airbnb data like local occupancy rates & nightly rates,
• tracking inventory, 
• hiring & coordinating tasks with cleaners & maintenance persons,
• and more.

Third-party tools for Airbnb also become more expensive the more properties or listings you have, which may eat into your budget. If you’re operating on a limited budget or at a loss, then you may not have the time for do-it-yourself solutions and may want to consider another option.

Tailored pricing strategies

If you’re looking for a hands-off alternative to PriceLabs, AirDNA, and other short-term rental pricing tools, your best option is to work with a partner who has years of experience with the local market. This is ideal for hosts who want to make the move from simply managing a property to maximising their earnings, but still want human input to oversee the entire process and rectify any potential issues, especially where prices are highly dependent on Airbnb seasonality.

Airbnb management companies like Hometime combine dynamic pricing with expert insight and market context to come up with a customised pricing strategy that’s built around your property’s unique earning potential. The result? On average, Hometime properties saw an 11% rise in occupancy and a 9% revenue increase during peak season after implementing our pricing strategies.

You’ll also get a team of experts dedicated to helping you reach your property’s full potential through the following services:

• Multi-channel listings on Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Hometime & more,
• guest vetting and communication, including any emergencies, from local hosts that live near your property,
• listing optimisation through Airbnb SEO, professional photographers, and property stylists,
• a reliable network of cleaners that deliver a high-quality clean every time, and
• access to the Owner Portal, our very own property management software for Airbnb, where you get 24/7 visibility into your booking calendar

Want to earn more from your property? Schedule a chat with us below and get a free Airbnb earnings estimate: